While climbing through FL260; an md-82 engine failed with a loud bang and yaw so an emergency was de...

Narrative:

It was the captain's leg and we were climbing out of FL260. There was a sudden; extremely loud bang; followed by vibration and a huge yaw. The left engine's EPR was indicating nothing; the N1 was indicating 20%; and the egt was very high. The captain disconnected the autopilot and we leveled off. I told center we had just lost our left engine and were declaring an emergency. I mentioned to the captain the left engine gear box had just been replaced recently and that might have something to do with it. All indications were that this was a sudden loss of the engine with severe damage; so we asked for a turn back to the departure airport. ATC gave us a 180 degree turn and discretion to a lower altitude. I started going through the engine failure severe damage checklist and it lead me to shutting the engine completely down and starting the APU. Everything indicated we would make a normal; single engine flaps 28 landing (we had left hydraulic pressure via the transfer pump; etc.) I did not attempt to contact dispatch; because we were too low. So; I contacted company operations and told them we declared an emergency and were returning with a failed left engine. There would be no need to evacuate; etc. I also briefed the flight attendants and the passengers and let them know what happened and that we would make a normal landing back at the departure airport. I told the flight attendants there would be no need to evacuate. We landed about 1;800 pounds heavier than maximum landing weight; because we did not know the extent of the damage since the failure was so violent. I informed the tower we would need the fire department to inspect the left engine when we taxied off the runway. The captain landed very smoothly on the longest runway; 12R; and exited at left where we stopped and got the inspection from the fire department. Everything looked good to them; so we taxied to the gate and deplaned normally.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: While climbing through FL260; an MD-82 engine failed with a loud bang and yaw so an emergency was declared; the QRH completed and the flight returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: It was the Captain's leg and we were climbing out of FL260. There was a sudden; extremely loud bang; followed by vibration and a huge yaw. The left engine's EPR was indicating nothing; the N1 was indicating 20%; and the EGT was very high. The Captain disconnected the autopilot and we leveled off. I told Center we had just lost our left engine and were declaring an emergency. I mentioned to the Captain the left engine gear box had just been replaced recently and that might have something to do with it. All indications were that this was a sudden loss of the engine with severe damage; so we asked for a turn back to the departure airport. ATC gave us a 180 degree turn and discretion to a lower altitude. I started going through the engine failure severe damage checklist and it lead me to shutting the engine completely down and starting the APU. Everything indicated we would make a normal; single engine flaps 28 landing (we had left hydraulic pressure via the transfer pump; etc.) I did not attempt to contact Dispatch; because we were too low. So; I contacted Company Operations and told them we declared an emergency and were returning with a failed left engine. There would be no need to evacuate; etc. I also briefed the flight attendants and the passengers and let them know what happened and that we would make a normal landing back at the departure airport. I told the flight attendants there would be no need to evacuate. We landed about 1;800 LBS heavier than maximum landing weight; because we did not know the extent of the damage since the failure was so violent. I informed the Tower we would need the Fire Department to inspect the left engine when we taxied off the runway. The Captain landed very smoothly on the longest runway; 12R; and exited at L where we stopped and got the inspection from the Fire Department. Everything looked good to them; so we taxied to the gate and deplaned normally.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1047287
Time
Date	201211
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-82
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Turbine Engine
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

While climbing through FL260; an md-82 engine failed with a loud bang and yaw so an emergency was declared; the QRH completed and the flight returned to the departure airport.